Mike Morse makes sense for Giants in LF

You've likely heard the name Mike Morse (or Michael as he's often referred to). Perhaps you're even familiar with the large, bearded outfielder. But, it's doubtful that you've thought of him as the solution to the Giants' hole in left field.

You see? He was once a monster. I like the sound of that.

"WE WANT POWER, WE WANT A REAL LEFT FIELDER! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!"

Yes, we all want left field manned by a player half as good as Barry Bonds was. We'd all take it as an upgrade, but the free agent climate is completely out of control.

When Lincecum gets $17.5MM a year, an oft-injured, steeply declining, 33 year old Curtis Granderson gets $60MM over 4 years, and Jay-Z was able to con and bully the Mariners into giving 31 year old Robinson Bleepin' Cano 10 years and $240MM, the free agent climate is out of control.

This now makes the Giants' once apparent overpay of Hunter Pence look like a bargain, with a comparatively horrendous Jacoby Ellsbury getting more years and more money a few days ago. Choo might get $130MM now for Christ's sake!

I wish I could use that Chris Berman clip of Vince Lombardi on the sideline yelling, "What the hell's goin' on out heeah!?"

Oh wait, I did.

What indeed...

With the Giants already in the top 10 in payroll, they have no intention of going after the likes of Shin Soo Choo, the top OF left on the market. Carlos Beltran will land in the AL, and Kansas City looks like the front runner, with a 3 year deal on the table. Nelson Cruz will also likely end up in the AL, and the Giants would be extremely unlikely to bring in a convicted PED user after the Melky Cabrera fiasco.

That leaves 75 year old bomber Raul Ibanez, whose defense is unacceptable, 33 year old former Giant Rajai Davis, who is a clone of incumbent Gregor Blanco with better speed, Jason Kubel, who was once an above average hitter, who is now a reclamation project, and Nate McLouth whose numbers are underwhelming, and wouldn't make sense as another lefty. Think there's anyone I left out, like Jason Bay? Check out the FA list here.

With all those underwhelming names, the two that make sense to me are Morse, who is a nice righty complement to Blanco with good power and 1B versatility, or Rajai Davis, whose batting average, on base %, and slugging % are all in the same ballpark as Blanco, with Gregor being the better defender and Davis's SB total of 45 being very impressive.

He makes a good gangsta face on picture day too.

But, the quickness and lack of offensive dropoff notwithstanding, this team is perennially lacking pop, and Morse would be a nice addition.

Morse is a hulking figure at about 6'5, 250, and has tremendous power. To me, his potential is still yet unrealized, and at 31, he's in for a do or die type season. His consistent injury history has limited him to basically one full season since entering the majors, and that 146 game campaign in 2011-- just 2 years ago-- yielded pretty darn good results.

In Washington that year, he slashed his way to .303/.360/.550 with 31 dongs, 95 RBI and 36 doubles. He split his time between 1B and LF that year, and has also played SS and RF coming up with Seattle.

He's an aggressive guy, with some holes in his swing, and he's susceptible to the strikeout, he's also a below average defender. But in this scenario, Blanco plays against righties, Morse against lefties, he's afforded a few less opportunities to cost us runs, and I really don't think he's egregiously bad. In the aforementioned 2011 season, he committed just 1 error in 55 OF games.

Despite Morse's perceived defensive shortcomings and his poor 2013 that was riddled by injuries, this is an excellent buy low opportunity for any team, because he's is capable of being an every day player, his .280/.284 career righty/lefty batting average splits prove that.

If recovered from offseason arthroscopic wrist surgery in October, the Giants would be foolish not to kick the tires on the powerful Morse, as he provides a righty backup for Brandon Belt, a LF complement to Blanco, and the potential to earn an every day spot as a big stick in the 6th or 7th spot in the lineup. Plus, he does actually have a career home run at AT&T. YOU SEE, HE'S CAPABLE!

Whatever the Giants decide to do, I'd be a bit irked if they weren't tied to Morse. He just seems like the right fit for the budget-conscious LF search.

If you can't see his 2011 highlight video below, click here.

Time for Giants to talk contract with Hunter Pence

Hunter Belushi

 You hear it all the time. You'll never see a guy do things quite like Hunter Pence. Hell, even Hunter himself said as much after being traded to the Giants at the deadline last season.

“I have to be honest. Every now and then, I do things that you don’t see very often.”

Everything from his lumber-chopping practice swings, to his fidgety wiggling in the batter's box, to his crazy eyes and spirit-inspiring speeches; Hunter Pence is one of a kind.

Like Pence, the Giants themselves are one of a kind. Their maddening style of play and uniqueness is a reflection of the city they play in-- a place I'd certainly call maddening and unique in its own right.

Nothing against Houston and Philadelphia, but Hunter Pence belongs here.

He belongs here because of his crazy ways and his crazy eyes. The fact that he rides a go-ped to the ballpark just seals the deal. Oh yeah, and he's a good baseball player.

"He's all out, and he's contagious." as Bruce Bochy put it after Wednesday's walkoff win against Philly in which Pence clubbed his 7th HR.


Last season after being traded, Pence struggled with his stroke a bit, but made up for it in a myriad of ways-- the aforementioned inspirational speeches and timeless weirdness like that triple hit broken bat Texas leaguer against St. Louis.

This year is another story. He's been arguably the team's best hitter this year, if not a close second to the .320 hitting Pablo Sandoval.

There's something very timely about Pence's hitting this year. It's not always situational success or crazy clutch, but if no one else is doing much of
anything, he seems to be the guy to rely on.

Obviously, it's early May, so there's no guarantees, but you have to be thrilled with Pence's 7 HRs and 22 RBIs to go along with an average hovering around .290 and an OPS around .825. Not just that, but he has increased his percentage of line drives by 5%, he's playing a righteous right field and is 5 for 5 in stolen base attempts (which equals his 2012 total).

The man once heckled by a Giants fan as "Bird Legs" as a member of the opposition, Pence's defense has perhaps entertained and impressed me most. As with everything else we see from Pence, his throwing motion is a bizarre, side-winding body heave that people just don't run on. He covers a ton of ground for a guy his size, and has learned to properly play balls off the right field archways and how to safely pursue foul balls near the bullpen mounds.

For you Saberjerks out there that need some sort of bizarre, contrived formula to satisfy your question about Pence's defense other than his 1 error or .988 fielding %, he's got a career high +3.7 UZR going. OKAY? 3.7!

To me, it's safe to give "Ol' Bird Legs" the ultra rare label of Five Tool Player.

Long story short is that Hunter Pence needs to remain a Giant for the foreseeable future. Not just for his personality, well-documented and impressive work ethic, and hot start. It's a significant factor in this situation that he genuinely loves it here. He feels like he can be himself, he loves the fans, and for God's sake, he hits well at AT&T Park. He's hitting a full 60 points higher in San Francisco (.318 vs.258 ) with 4 dongs (vs. 3) in San Francisco this season.

As for money, you have to expect that he's not going to be taking any paycuts-- as he shouldn't. The notion of a "hometown discount" won't exist here, but since the guy wants to stay here and buy some real estate, I don't think an in-season contract extension is out of the question.

It seems to be the new trend that guys don't want to "negotiate in season" to "avoid distraction". That to me is BS, and it's a politically correct excuse to be wined & dined following the year to get the biggest offer from the other 29 teams. That's fine, but for guys like Pence, that's not going to be an issue.

Just so we know where we are with Pence, the talks probably have to start at 4yr/$60MM and could go up a bit from there. If you look at the deal Pagan got (4yr/$40MM), you'd have to say Hunter is worth more than that. Keep in mind as well that he's making $13.8MM this year in the final year of arbitration.

As far as potential OF competition for Pence in free agency next year, the crop is deeper than usual.The likes of Nelson Cruz, Curtis Granderson, Jason Kubel, Shin-Soo Choo, and Carlos Beltran are all expected to be available. This will likely play in the Giants' favor, and if the conversation begins at that 4yr/$60MM figure, Pence would be remiss if he didn't try to get a deal done.

Let's hope we see UnderPence's googly eyes under that black Giants hat for years to come. Godspeed Sabean.